“This house is a nice balance between modern amenities and comfortable living,” says Jake Gallau, student project manager for Team Santa Clara. “We’ve named the house Rhythm as it follows the natural rhythm of the sun and because it balances the three E’s: efficiency, elegance, and economics.”

Members of the team say they will knock out the competition, which include Stanford University, University of Southern California, and California Institute of Technology. Unlike the other schools, Team Santa Clara consists of all undergraduate students aged 19 to 23 years old.

A total of 20 college and university teams from around the world are competing to be the best one that can build a real, livable, operable house that is 100 percent powered by solar energy. The competition takes places Oct. 3-13, 2013 at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif. However, all students must build their homes on their own campuses, dismantle it, ship it to the competition site, rebuild it, and then operate it for the judges and the public.

Saturday’s event is co-hosted by the San Jose Earthquakes, and MLS W.O.R.K.S., the charitable arm of Major League Soccer. Fans will receive an eco-tip guide, flower seed packets, a book featuring discount offers at local, sustainable and healthy businesses, and much more. A full list of all the giveaways can be found online.

About Santa Clara UniversitySanta Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its more than 8,800 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, theology, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.